GMAT Question: June. 12 – June. 16, 2017

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.

Success can easily be achieved just by putting a bit of effort and with some regular practice.Here is the GMAT practice question for this week. It is kindly provided by Veritas Prep.

Insufficiently trained for combat, the soldier was grievously injured in battle and sank once again into unconsciousness, anesthetized by the medicine required by the many rounds of surgery necessary to save his badly wounded leg.

A) battle and sank once again into unconsciousness, anesthetized by

B) battle, sank once again into unconsciousness, and anesthetized

C) battle, sinking once again into unconsciousness, was anesthetized by

D) battle and sank once again into unconsciousness, and was anesthetized

E) battle, sinking once again into unconsciousness and being anesthetized by

Which is the correct answer and why do you think so? Share your opinion or post a question if you are not sure about the correct answer.Peers and experts are here to help.The correct answer is ....

The correct answer is A) battle and sank once again into unconsciousness, anesthetized by and here is why according to Veritas Prep:

Strategically on this problem, you should identify that there are two verbs (or, more properly, "verbals") within the underlined portion ("sank" and "anesthetized"), and that there are up to two possible uses of the conjunction "and" in the answer choices. Your job, then, is to determine whether these verbs are part of a parallel list, or whether one (or more) is used as a participial modifier.

To do that, consider the meanings of the first two choices. In choice A, "anesthetized" is used as a modifier at the end of the sentence. For that meaning, the soldier has two verbs: was injured, and sank into unconsciousness. And the verb anesthetized describes how the soldier sank into unconsciousness.

For the second meaning, with three verbs in the list, the soldier did three things: was wounded, sank into unconsciousness, and (actively) anesthetized medicine. Consider that meaning, even if you're not clear on the verb "anesthetized" - is it logical that the soldier actively did something to medicine while or after slipping into unconsciousness? It is not, particularly in comparison to the more passive story ("anesthetized by") in choice A, a much more logical description of what would happen to someone slipping into unconsciousness. So the meaning in choice A is the logical meaning of the sentence.

Note that while choice C tries to preserve that meaning in a three-verb list using "was anesthetized by" it foregoes the "and" necessary to complete the list and is therefore incorrect. Choice D is guilty of a similar error, omitting the necessary "by" to complete the construction "was anesthetized by the medicine..." And choice E illogically treats "sinking" and "being" as separate actions subordinate to "was gravely injured," when the logical storyline is that the anesthetization is part of the sinking into unconsciousness, which is itself a separate event from "was wounded."